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Speciation and evolutionary genetics

This section considers studies into speciation and the role of inheritance and variation in individuals and among populations in evolution.

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  1. Content type: Research article

    Hyperdiverse mtDNA with more than 5% of variable synonymous nucleotide sites can lead to erroneous interpretations of population genetic differentiation patterns and parameters (φST, DEST). We illustrate this by ...

    Authors: S. Fourdrilis and T. Backeljau

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2019 19:92

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  2. Content type: Research article

    Different population trajectories are expected to impact the signature of neutral and adaptive processes at multiple levels, challenging the assessment of the relative roles of different microevolutionary forc...

    Authors: Rita G. Rocha, Vanessa Magalhães, José V. López-Bao, Wessel van der Loo, Luis Llaneza, Francisco Alvares, Pedro J. Esteves and Raquel Godinho

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2019 19:90

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  3. Content type: Research article

    DNA barcoding has been developed as a useful tool for species discrimination. Several sequence-based species delimitation methods, such as Barcode Index Number (BIN), REfined Single Linkage (RESL), Automatic B...

    Authors: Zhijun Zhou, Huifang Guo, Li Han, Jinyan Chai, Xuting Che and Fuming Shi

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2019 19:79

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  4. Content type: Research article

    Synbranchidae or swamp eels are fishes belonging to the order Synbranchiformes that occur in both freshwater and occasionally in brackish. They are worldwide distributed in tropical and subtropical rivers of f...

    Authors: Weerayuth Supiwong, Krit Pinthong, Kriengkrai Seetapan, Pasakorn Saenjundaeng, Luiz A. C. Bertollo, Ezequiel A. de Oliveira, Cassia F. Yano, Thomas Liehr, Sumalee Phimphan, Alongklod Tanomtong and Marcelo B Cioffi

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2019 19:73

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  5. Content type: Research article

    Much of the debate over the evolutionary consequences of hybridization on genetic divergence and speciation results from the breakdown or reinforcement of reproductive barriers in secondary hybrid zones. Among...

    Authors: Wan-Jin Liao, Bi-Ru Zhu, Yue-Fei Li, Xiao-Meng Li, Yan-Fei Zeng and Da-Yong Zhang

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2019 19:70

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  6. Content type: Research article

    The molecular basis of the incipient stage of speciation is still poorly understood. Cichlid fish species in Lake Victoria are a prime example of recent speciation events and a suitable system to study the ada...

    Authors: Shohei Takuno, Ryutaro Miyagi, Jun-ichi Onami, Shiho Takahashi-Kariyazono, Akie Sato, Herbert Tichy, Masato Nikaido, Mitsuto Aibara, Shinji Mizoiri, Hillary D. J. Mrosso, Semvua I. Mzighani, Norihiro Okada and Yohey Terai

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2019 19:68

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  7. Content type: Research article

    Examples of rapid evolution are common in nature but difficult to account for with the standard population genetic model of adaptation. Instead, selection from the standing genetic variation permits rapid adap...

    Authors: David I. Dayan, Xiao Du, Tara Z. Baris, Dominique N. Wagner, Douglas L. Crawford and Marjorie F. Oleksiak

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2019 19:61

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  8. Content type: Research article

    Alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs) are taxonomically pervasive strategies adopted by individuals to maximize reproductive success within populations. Even for conditionally-dependent traits, consensus pos...

    Authors: K. A. Stewart, R. Draaijer, M. R. Kolasa and I. M. Smallegange

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2019 19:58

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  9. Content type: Research article

    Micro RNAs (miRNAs), a class of small non-coding RNAs, have been implicated in various aspects of plant development. miR394 is required for shoot apical meristem organization, stem cell maintenance and abiotic...

    Authors: Ashutosh Kumar, Vibhav Gautam, Pramod Kumar, Shalini Mukherjee, Swati Verma and Ananda K. Sarkar

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2019 19:55

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  10. Content type: Research article

    The evolutionary history of a species is frequently derived from molecular sequences, and the resulting phylogenetic trees do not include explicit functional information. Here, we aimed to assess the functiona...

    Authors: Agustín Estrada-Peña and Alejandro Cabezas-Cruz

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2019 19:54

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  11. Content type: Research article

    During the modern human expansion, new environmental pressures may have driven adaptation, especially in genes related to the perception of ingested substances and their detoxification. Consequently, positive ...

    Authors: Begoña Dobon, Carla Rossell, Sandra Walsh and Jaume Bertranpetit

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2019 19:39

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  12. Content type: Research article

    At the very end of the larval stage Drosophila expectorate a glue secreted by their salivary glands to attach themselves to a substrate while pupariating. The glue is a mixture of apparently unrelated proteins, s...

    Authors: Jean-Luc Da Lage, Gregg W. C. Thomas, Magalie Bonneau and Virginie Courtier-Orgogozo

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2019 19:36

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  13. Content type: Research article

    The gene for odontogenic ameloblast-associated (ODAM) is a member of the secretory calcium-binding phosphoprotein gene family. ODAM is primarily expressed in dental tissues including the enamel organ and the junc...

    Authors: Mark S. Springer, Christopher A. Emerling, John Gatesy, Jason Randall, Matthew A. Collin, Nikolai Hecker, Michael Hiller and Frédéric Delsuc

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2019 19:31

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  14. Content type: Research article

    Western house mice Mus musculus domesticus are among the most important mammalian model species for chromosomal speciation. Hybrids between chromosomal races of M. m. domesticus suffer various degrees of fertilit...

    Authors: Sofia A. Grize, Elodie Wilwert, Jeremy B. Searle and Anna K. Lindholm

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2019 19:25

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  15. Content type: Research article

    The genetic mechanisms underlying the domestication of animals and plants have been of great interest to biologists since Darwin. To date, little is known about the global pattern of gene expression changes du...

    Authors: Wei Liu, Lei Chen, Shilai Zhang, Fengyi Hu, Zheng Wang, Jun Lyu, Bao Wang, Hui Xiang, Ruoping Zhao, Zhixi Tian, Song Ge and Wen Wang

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2019 19:19

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  17. Content type: Research article

    Genes of the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) are essential for adaptive immune response in vertebrates, as they encode receptors that recognize peptides derived from the processing of intracellular (MHC...

    Authors: Piotr Minias, Ewa Pikus and Dariusz Anderwald

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2019 19:2

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  20. Content type: Research article

    Seminal plasma proteins are associated with successful fertilization. However, their evolutionary correlation with fertilization mechanisms remains unclear. Cichlids from Lake Tanganyika show a variety-rich sp...

    Authors: Masaya Morita, Stanley Ifeanyi Ugwu and Masanori Kohda

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:197

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  21. Content type: Research article

    Mature male parr (MMP) represent an important alternative life-history strategy in Atlantic salmon populations. Previous studies indicate that the maturation size threshold for male parr varies among wild popu...

    Authors: A. C. Harvey, O. T. Skilbrei, F. Besnier, M. F. Solberg, A.-G. E. Sørvik and K. A. Glover

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:188

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  22. Content type: Research article

    Divergent selection has been shown to promote speciation in many taxa and especially in phytophagous insects. In the Ostrinia species complex, the European corn borer (ECB) and adzuki bean borer (ABB) are two sib...

    Authors: M. Orsucci, P. Audiot, S. Nidelet, F. Dorkeld, A. Pommier, M. Vabre, D. Severac, M. Rohmer, B. Gschloessl and R. Streiff

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:145

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  23. Content type: Research article

    Microhabitat changes are thought to be among the main drivers of diversification. However, this conclusion is mostly based on studies on vertebrates. Here, we investigate the influence of microhabitat on diver...

    Authors: Jonas Eberle, Dimitar Dimitrov, Alejandro Valdez-Mondragón and Bernhard A. Huber

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:141

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  24. Content type: Research article

    The processes leading to the diversity of over 7000 present-day languages have been the subject of scholarly interest for centuries. Several factors have been suggested to contribute to the spatial segregation...

    Authors: Terhi Honkola, Kalle Ruokolainen, Kaj J. J. Syrjänen, Unni-Päivä Leino, Ilpo Tammi, Niklas Wahlberg and Outi Vesakoski

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:132

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  25. Content type: Research article

    Genes underlying signal production and reception are expected to evolve to maximize signal detection in specific environments. Fireflies vary in their light signal color both within and between species, and th...

    Authors: Sarah E. Lower, Kathrin F. Stanger-Hall and David W. Hall

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:129

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  26. Content type: Research article

    Understanding the mechanisms that underlie the diversification of herbivores through interactions with their hosts is important for their diversity assessment and identification of expansion events, particular...

    Authors: Anna Skoracka, Luís Filipe Lopes, Maria Judite Alves, Adam Miller, Mariusz Lewandowski, Wiktoria Szydło, Agnieszka Majer, Elżbieta Różańska and Lechosław Kuczyński

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:122

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  27. Content type: Research article

    One of the most perplexing questions in evolutionary biology is why some lineages diversify into many species, and others do not. In many cases, ecological opportunity has played an important role, leading to ...

    Authors: Kimberly L. Foster and Kyle R. Piller

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:116

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  28. Content type: Research article

    Populations that have repeatedly colonized novel environments are useful for studying the role of ecology in adaptive divergence – particularly if some individuals persist in the ancestral habitat. Such “conte...

    Authors: Matthew R. J. Morris, Ella Bowles, Brandon E. Allen, Heather A. Jamniczky and Sean M. Rogers

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:113

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  29. Content type: Research article

    Species with a restricted geographic distribution, and highly specialized habitat and dietary requirements, are particularly vulnerable to extinction. The Bale monkey (Chlorocebus djamdjamensis) is a little-known...

    Authors: Addisu Mekonnen, Eli K. Rueness, Nils Chr. Stenseth, Peter J. Fashing, Afework Bekele, R. Adriana Hernandez-Aguilar, Rose Missbach, Tanja Haus, Dietmar Zinner and Christian Roos

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:106

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  30. Content type: Research article

    The processes through which populations originate and diversify ecologically in the initial stages of adaptive radiation are little understood because we lack information on critical steps of early divergence....

    Authors: Darko D. Cotoras, Ke Bi, Michael S. Brewer, David R. Lindberg, Stefan Prost and Rosemary G. Gillespie

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:100

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  31. Content type: Research article

    In host-parasite systems, relative dispersal rates condition genetic novelty within populations and thus their adaptive potential. Knowledge of host and parasite dispersal rates can therefore help us to unders...

    Authors: Anaïs S. C. Appelgren, Verena Saladin, Heinz Richner, Blandine Doligez and Karen D. McCoy

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:99

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  32. Content type: Research article

    The spatial distribution of genetic diversity and structure has important implications for conservation as it reveals a species’ strong and weak points with regard to stability and evolutionary capacity. Tempo...

    Authors: Alexander Jueterbock, James A. Coyer, Jeanine L. Olsen and Galice Hoarau

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:94

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  33. Content type: Research article

    Commercial whaling caused extensive demographic declines in many great whale species, including gray whales that were extirpated from the Atlantic Ocean and dramatically reduced in the Pacific Ocean. The Easte...

    Authors: Anna Brüniche-Olsen, Rick Westerman, Zuzanna Kazmierczyk, Vladimir V. Vertyankin, Celine Godard-Codding, John W. Bickham and J. Andrew DeWoody

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:87

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  34. Content type: Research article

    The common loon (Gavia immer) is one of five species that comprise the avian order Gaviiformes. Loons are specialized divers, reaching depths up to 60 m while staying submerged for intervals up to three minutes. ...

    Authors: Zach G. Gayk, Diana Le Duc, Jeffrey Horn and Alec R. Lindsay

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:64

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  35. Content type: Research article

    Hybridization is very common in plants, and the incorporation of new alleles into existing lineages (i.e. admixture) can blur species boundaries. However, admixture also has the potential to increase standing ...

    Authors: Martin P. Schilling, Zachariah Gompert, Fay-Wei Li, Michael D. Windham and Paul G. Wolf

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:61

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  36. Content type: Research article

    Differences in species richness among phylogenetic clades are attributed to clade age and/or variation in diversification rates. Access to ecological opportunity may trigger a temporary increase in diversifica...

    Authors: Diana Delicado, Torsten Hauffe and Thomas Wilke

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:55

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  37. Content type: Research article

    Introduced biological control agents have opportunities of population admixture through multiple introductions in the field. However, the importance of population admixture for their establishment success ofte...

    Authors: Hao-Sen Li, Shang-Jun Zou, Patrick De Clercq and Hong Pang

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:36

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  38. Content type: Research article

    Trypanosomatid parasites such as Trypanosoma spp. and Leishmania spp. are a major source of infectious disease in humans and domestic animals worldwide. Fundamental to the host-parasite interactions of these pote...

    Authors: Sara Silva Pereira and Andrew P. Jackson

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:31

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  39. Content type: Research article

    Maintaining variation in immune genes, such as those of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), is important for individuals in small, isolated populations to resist pathogens and parasites. The golden snub-n...

    Authors: Pei Zhang, Kang Huang, Bingyi Zhang, Derek W. Dunn, Dan Chen, Fan Li, Xiaoguang Qi, Songtao Guo and Baoguo Li

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:29

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  40. Content type: Research article

    Marine threespine sticklebacks colonized and adapted to brackish and freshwater environments since the last Pleistocene glacial. Throughout the Holarctic, three lateral plate morphs are observed; the low, part...

    Authors: Kjartan Østbye, Annette Taugbøl, Mark Ravinet, Chris Harrod, Ruben Alexander Pettersen, Louis Bernatchez and Leif Asbjørn Vøllestad

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:14

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  41. Content type: Research article

    Whole genome duplication plays a central role in plant evolution. There are two main classes of polyploid formation: autopolyploids which arise within one species by doubling of similar homologous genomes; in ...

    Authors: Jonna S. Eriksson, Filipe de Sousa, Yann J. K. Bertrand, Alexandre Antonelli, Bengt Oxelman and Bernard E. Pfeil

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:9

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  42. Content type: Research article

    Fungal plant pathogens secrete a large arsenal of hydrolytic enzymes during the course of infection, including peptidases. Secreted peptidases have been extensively studied for their role as effectors. In this...

    Authors: Parvathy Krishnan, Xin Ma, Bruce A. McDonald and Patrick C. Brunner

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:7

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  43. Content type: Research article

    The genomes of all vertebrates harbor remnants of ancient retroviral infections, having affected the germ line cells during the last 100 million years. These sequences, named Endogenous Retroviruses (ERVs), ha...

    Authors: Nicole Grandi, Marta Cadeddu, Jonas Blomberg, Jens Mayer and Enzo Tramontano

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2018 18:6

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  44. Content type: Research article

    Populations of herbivorous insects may become genetically differentiated because of local adaptation to different hosts and climates as well as historical processes, and further genetic divergence may occur fo...

    Authors: You-Zhu Wang, Bing-Yan Li, Ary Anthony Hoffmann, Li-Jun Cao, Ya-Jun Gong, Wei Song, Jia-Ying Zhu and Shu-Jun Wei

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2017 17:265

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  45. Content type: Research Article

    Characterizations of the dynamics of hybrid zones in space and time can give insights about traits and processes important in population divergence and speciation. We characterized a hybrid zone between tanage...

    Authors: Andrea Morales-Rozo, Elkin A. Tenorio, Matthew D. Carling and Carlos Daniel Cadena

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2017 17:257

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  46. Content type: Research article

    The transition to a parasitic lifestyle entails comprehensive changes to the selective regime. In parasites, genes encoding for traits that facilitate host detection, exploitation and transmission should be un...

    Authors: B. Feldmeyer, D. Elsner, A. Alleman and S. Foitzik

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2017 17:237

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  47. Content type: Research article

    Genetically divergent cryptic species are frequently detected by molecular methods. These discoveries are often a byproduct of molecular barcoding studies in which fragments of a selected marker are used for s...

    Authors: Anne Thielsch, Alexis Knell, Ali Mohammadyari, Adam Petrusek and Klaus Schwenk

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2017 17:227

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  48. Content type: Research article

    Interspecies animal hybrids can employ clonal or hemiclonal reproduction modes where one or all parental genomes are transmitted to the progeny without recombination. Nevertheless, some interspecies hybrids re...

    Authors: Dmitry Dedukh, Spartak Litvinchuk, Juriy Rosanov, Dmitry Shabanov and Alla Krasikova

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2017 17:220

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  49. Content type: Research article

    Homoplasy affects demographic inference estimates. This effect has been recognized and corrective methods have been developed. However, no studies so far have defined what homoplasy metrics best describe the e...

    Authors: Diego Ortega-Del Vecchyo, Daniel Piñero, Lev Jardón-Barbolla and Joost van Heerwaarden

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2017 17:213

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  50. Content type: Research article

    Pleistocene climatic fluctuations are known to be an engine of biotic diversification at higher latitudes, but their impact on highly diverse tropical areas such as the Andes remains less well-documented. Spec...

    Authors: Balaji Chattopadhyay, Kritika M. Garg, Chyi Yin Gwee, Scott V. Edwards and Frank E. Rheindt

    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2017 17:210

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